A New Life
by skca54
Summary: Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin has a new life, a new career, new challenges and new friends. Can he live up to the challenge that Harry gave him? Is Eggsy a true Kingsman?
1. A New Life

**Author's Note:** _This is my first attempt at a story for **Kingsman: The Secret Service**. I intend to base my story on the movie, primarily, but with certain input from the comic. My normal stories are based on **Kick-Ass**. However, I am a big fan of all of Mark Millar's work. I hope that I can do justice to this story. The story is set a couple of months after the end of the movie._

** PLEASE BE WARNED THAT THERE MAY BE SPOILERS, IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE **

_Please be gentle with your criticism, but also please comment and put me right, if I stray, as I surely will!_

* * *

**_Malaysia  
February 2015_**

Amidst the darkness, two black-clad people moved silently about their business.

No movement was wasted, every step was planned well before a single muscle was moved. It was dark, not that it mattered, as the two professionals could have gone about their jobs blindfolded without detriment to their activity.

..._...

"Roxy, pass me another block of C4!"

"Here!" Roxy replied and threw me another rectangular block from a dozen feet away.

I applied the block, along with three other identical blocks and then inserted a short thin detonator and twisted the top ninety degrees; a small red LED illuminated, indicating that the device was now armed.

"Got it!" Roxy confirmed, checking the screen on the small computer in her hand. "We can detonate when ready!"

As soon as Roxy had finished with her own, identical, explosives installation she came up beside me.

"Let's get the hell out of here!"

* * *

**_Several hours later  
British Airways Flight BA0028_**

The total flight time would be a little over nineteen hours.

This was the second leg; from Hong Kong to London, Heathrow. We had left Kuala Lumpur at 17:45 local time and it was now early morning. I sat in a first class seat only feet away from my colleague, Roxy.

I glanced over to my colleague, trying not to smirk and failing miserably. "Enjoying the flight, good lady!" I teasingly said to her, in a mock 'upper class' accent.

"Give it a fucking rest with the posh talk, Eggsy!" Roxy laughed. "This is _our_ time; you can be as common as muck for all I care!"

I grinned sheepishly. "I was only being polite to a lady!"

I saw Roxy blush slightly.

"You've proved yourself, idiot! You out smarted those pretentious twats during training – you have nothing more to prove! Who gives a toss where you grew up, or where you went to school?"

"But, I failed training, remember!"

"You couldn't shoot JB – so what; you accomplished the damn mission!"

"You girls were just about the only people that didn't treat me like something they'd just scraped off their shoe!"

"I was right – I judged that you were a good guy and you helped me through my training – and afterwards," Roxy added with a caring smile.

"You still hate those HALO jumps, don't you?"

"Hell, yeah!"

"You two having fun?" A voice cut in, from several thousand miles away.

"Hi, Merlin!" Roxy announced into thin air.

"You've gotta have fun, or what's the point!" I quipped.

"Funny! News reports state that there was a large explosion in Malaysia an hour ago and a certain group of people died! Well done!"

"Thank you! Another successful mission that the world will never know about!"

"Just as it should be!" Roxy said with a smile.

"See you guys later; the helicopter will be waiting," Merlin advised.

..._...

"Do you miss the Royal Marines?" Roxy asked.

"Do you miss the Army?" I countered.

"Touché mon ami!" Roxy replied.

"At times, yes – I was training to join the absolute elite fighting force in the world. But I have now become part of something much, much better!"

"I must agree!"

* * *

I lay back and thought about my new life.

The training had been hard, very hard – but it had felt good and I now felt better about myself than ever before – and it was all thanks to Harry.

I had felt really, really bad about letting him down – but I was now a Kingsman and I hoped that I could be as good as Harry and the others.

By the time we got back to the house, Arthur's replacement would be there – nobody knew who it was going to be yet. A lot of work had been done to ensure that there was nobody else who had believed in Valentine's warped idea of population control. Admittedly, with the fact that his followers lost their heads at the end, identification was somewhat easy!

* * *

**Authors Note:** _Updated 5th February 2015._


	2. Last Will and Testament

**_London, England_**

We landed at Heathrow, around five in the morning, local time.

As we had not checked in any bags, we left the aircraft carrying our hand luggage and ignored the other passengers eager to recover their own bags. We were met, before being shown through a door and then escorted along a service passageway. We finally emerged onto the tarmac where an AgustaWestland AW190E helicopter, in a tasteful brown livery, was waiting with its rotors spinning.

The twin-engine helicopter started to taxi as soon as we were aboard and a few minutes later lifted off and turned to the west, increasing speed to over one hundred and twenty knots.

* * *

**_'K' Manor_**

After a little over twenty minutes, we dropped down towards a large stately home that was situated in many acres of private forest and grassland.

When we were a mere few dozen feet in the air, a large part of the lawn to the rear of the house, slid out of the way, allowing the helicopter to drop below into a cavernous, underground aircraft hangar that was filled with a seemingly endless collection of aircraft and vehicles – predominantly London taxi cabs.

We were met a few metres from the aircraft by Merlin, who was standing there with his usual clipboard and watching our every move.

"Lancelot, Galahad – good to see you both!"

"Merlin!" I replied with a grin, while Roxy gave him a nod and a smile.

I noticed a large group of nervous looking young people further away, across the hangar. We had lost two Kingsman to that lunatic, Valentine. The first had been Arthur, but we had also lost Agravaine and in a way, we had lost Lamorak, too. Lamorak had been promoted to Arthur. Thus, we had a rather larger group than usual, actually sixteen, as two spots required filling. Neither Roxy nor I had been asked to nominate anybody, which was good as I really had nobody to nominate and Roxy had confided to me that neither had she!

Each of the remaining Kingsman had provided one, if not two nominees. I noticed that the group consisted of about six girls, with the rest being lads. I sincerely hoped that they were not all cocky bastards, like those that we had had to endure! I honestly did not envy them their training and I was glad that it was behind me.

..._...

I grabbed Merlin's clipboard.

"What have we got today?" I said in a mock Scottish accent.

Merlin grabbed back his clipboard.

"Get your grubby mitts off _my_ clipboard! _Nobody_ touches the clipboard, nobody!" Merlin insisted, with an annoyed grin.

"Keep your hair on!" I laughed.

"Funny man!" Merlin grumbled, and then thrust a document into my hands. "Here – read!"

..._...

I looked at the document that I had been handed: it was '_The Last Will and Testament of Harry Lucas Hart_'.

I felt very confused. "Why..." I began.

Merlin smiled before replying.

"Harry left everything to you – in the hope that you would be able to make further use of his worldly goods as you move forward in your new life as a Kingsman. You get the house and everything in it. You get the car, you..."

"Harry had a car?" I interrupted, incredulously. "What was it – a fifteen year-old Ford Fiesta?"

"Not quite!" Merlin replied, before turning very smug as he grinned at me. "But it _is_ a _company_ car!"

"Okay, I'll be careful which buttons I push!"

..._...

I was surprised and a little shocked, to tell you the truth!

Most of the past month had been spent out of the country and what time I had had before then was spent relocating my Mum and sister. I had not had a chance to find a place for myself yet, so for now Roxy was going to put me up at her place, in South Kensington.

It had turned out that the house that Kingsman had provided for Roxy was not far from Harry's old place, which it now turned out, was mine!

Your life is changing, Eggsy my boy!

* * *

"You know, I am somewhat surprised that they allowed a lady to be a Kingsman," I said cautiously and saw Roxy scowl.

"You thought that Kingsman would be full of pretentious, misogynist, bigots?" Merlin enquired.

"I suppose."

"At one stage, you would have been absolutely right. But over time they decided that, err, the female variety had important assets that err, men didn't!" Merlin explained delicately. "They, err, had assets like..."

I watched Roxy's expression as I interrupted. "Like tits?" I pointed out helpfully, with a sly grin.

Roxy dropped her scowl and laughed.

"Err, yes – those would be some of the assets, yes!" Merlin admitted, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Have there been many, before Roxy?" I continued, curiously and I could see that Roxy now leaned forward out of curiosity, too.

"Just the two so far – both are dead now. They served in the sixties and into the seventies. It was discovered that women could do the job just as well as the men and in a few instances – better!" Merlin said, flashing a grin at Roxy.

"I can believe that, if they were of Roxy's calibre!" I said.

"Oh they were!" Merlin confirmed, before wandering off.

..._...

"Thank you, Eggsy – for a moment there, I thought you were 'anti-women'!" Roxy grinned. "Glad I was wrong!"

"Never going to happen, Roxy – you outdid several other men to get to where you stand now."

Roxy seemed a little unsure of herself, but smiled.

* * *

Roxy and I boarded the 'tube' and we headed back towards London at high-speed.

I gazed at the blurred image out the window as I spoke. "I wonder if anybody has ever got off in one of these," I asked offhandedly.

"Well, the trip does only last a few minutes; so ample time for most men – more than enough even!" Roxy replied with a mischievous grin.

"Funny Roxy!"

* * *

**_'K' Headquarters_**

As we stepped out of the shop on Savile Row, we turned right and headed north towards Oxford Circus tube station, before we were somewhat rudely interrupted.

"Hey! How you doing sweet stuff?" A voice called.

"Excuse me!" Roxy said, turning to glare at the youth.

"Love the suit – you look hot!" he continued.

I started to say something, but Roxy stopped me.

"I've got this!" She cautioned.

I had to admit that Roxy did look 'hot' in her official Kingsman suit. Naturally, it had been tailored for her body and showed some of her curvaceous features. Roxy wore trousers, instead of a skirt and carried a more feminine variant of the Kingsman umbrella. On her feet were custom designed Kingsman shoes with low heels.

"Come on, lady! I can give you something your toff can't!"

I ignored the implied insult and just stood there grinning like a Cheshire cat, while Roxy braced up and stared at the youth.

"You have _one_ chance to walk away!" She advised in a calm, polite tone.

I stayed back, knowing that Roxy could handle ten of this idiot! I took in Roxy's stance and the way that she was holding her umbrella. Only another Kingsman would notice that she was coiling up like a cobra about to strike.

The youth just grinned. "You want to hurt me?"

I could not believe it – the idiot thought Roxy's challenge was foreplay!

"Merlin – you got your ears on?" I called into thin air.

"No, Galahad – they're on the desk beside me!" Merlin responded dryly.

"Not the best place for them! We are going to need an ambulance, New Burlington Place, in about two minutes!"

I watched as Roxy swing the umbrella up and outwards, the wooden handle of which caught the youth on the bridge of his nose and he crumpled to the pavement.

"Better make that now, Merlin!" I corrected.

"Always knew you two were going to be trouble!" Merlin grumbled.

I smiled affectionately at my colleague. "You always leave a mess behind you, everywhere you go!" I commented and Roxy smiled back.

"I do not!" She retorted.

We continued along the street and then left up Regent Street towards the tube station.

* * *

**_Elsewhere, at the same time_**

"Who is he?"

"Seems to be a foreign national. Was found outside a pub in the centre of Glasgow. Something doesn't fit – just not sure what, which was why I called you," The medical examiner explained.

"Thank you, James, it is much appreciated. Did the man have much on him?" The tall thin, well-presented man, asked.

"Just the usual change, but no wallet or identification. I did find a small package that had been sewn into the lining of his jacket. Haven't opened it, but feel free, Thomas."

The man, Thomas, picked up the package, examining every detail, rolling the package over in his gloved hands.

"May I?" Thomas asked and lifted a scalpel and proceeded to open the package.

"What is that?" The medical examiner asked.

"A metal disc – why would you want to smuggle a metal disc into the country?"

* * *

**_Author's Note:_** _For this story, I am not using an original plot. This is so that I can concentrate on getting the characters and background correct. Some readers may recognise the plot, as it unfolds or even straight away!_


	3. The Next Mission

**_Two days later_**

We were refreshed and ready for action.

I had spent a peaceful couple of days sifting through Harry's house and packing up his clothes and personal effects. Roxy had come over to give me hand and I enjoyed her company.

I had never been in the garage at Harry's house, but when I went in there the first evening, I had found a somewhat cracking automobile.

It was an Aston Martin Vantage S in Viridian Green with exotic five-spoke graphite wheels. The inside was completed in obsidian black and blue haze leather with spectral blue stitching. To the naked eye, the vehicle looked very ordinary, but I noticed that the Kingsman insignia appeared on several items of switchgear. I decided that it might be best if I did not touch anything quite yet, just in case Stingers shot out of the headlights, or lasers from the wheel hubs, not to mention something else equally just as lethal!

* * *

**_'K' Headquarters_**

I had been running late that morning. It was a dozen minutes past nine, when I entered the shop. There, I found Merlin waiting and looking rather annoyed with me.

"It looks like you inherited Harry's time keeping ability, too, Galahad!"

We headed upstairs to find the other Kingsman present and I received a somewhat disapproving look from Roxy as I sat down beside her in the only spare seat, on the end and to the right.

"Good _afternoon_, Galahad!" Arthur said dryly.

I looked around the table. "Apologies to all!" I said in a genuine manner.

"Thank you – let's move on, Merlin!" Arthur began and Merlin stepped forwards and indicated the mirror above the fireplace.

"Glasses please, gentlemen – and lady," he announced, with a brief nod to Lancelot who nodded back with a grin.

After a short pause, Merlin began the briefing.

"There has been an escalation of problems with the Russians. Some of which is public knowledge, most of which is not. Five and Six have been very busy. We will be ensuring that they don't miss something important – as usual!"

By 'Five' and 'Six', Merlin was referring to the agencies that were overtly responsible for the domestic security of the United Kingdom.

Five was responsible for protecting the United Kingdom, its citizens and interests, at home and overseas, against threats to national security.

Six was responsible for gathering intelligence outside the United Kingdom in support of the government's security, defence, foreign and economic policies.

Periodically, 'people and things' slipped through the cracks and Kingsman tried to pick up these 'people and things' to ensure the security of the United Kingdom. 'People' tended to rang from spies to terrorists, while 'things' usually ranged from fake cash to bombs.

"Five and Six have raised their threat levels concerning Russia and so will we. You each have your taskings in front of you. Galahad and Lancelot will be concentrating on the home front; Bedivere, Percivale and Tristram will be heading for Russia itself on independent taskings. Geraint will be heading to another more distant region of the world that, for now, is remaining classified."

Arthur stood up.

"As you are all aware, we are short-handed at present until Agravaine and Lamorak are replaced. But this will be quite a while," Arthur explained, before adding with a smile. "As you are all well aware from your own initiations."

Arthur ran through a few other details before we all rose and headed downstairs. Merlin, Roxy and me headed for Dressing Room 1 and descended to the Tube.

* * *

**_'K' Manor_**

"So, Merlin – is there a manual for that car? Wouldn't want to press a button and find a Stinger missile shooting out from behind the headlights!" I laughed.

"Don't be stupid, man – Stingers behind the headlights, I ask you!" Merlin responded looking at Lancelot with a chuckle before going on. "They're in the door sills."

Roxy raised an eyebrow at this and then frowned.

"Merlin, where is _my_ company car?" She asked, with some annoyance.

Merlin studied Roxy for a minute, before responding smoothly.

"For you, little lady – take your pick," Merlin announced and pointed into the hangar.

Roxy vanished like a shot.

"Keen, isn't she!" I commented and received a grin from Merlin.

..._...

Roxy had chosen her car and it was typically feminine – she would probably give it a name next!

Lancelot had selected a Jaguar F-Type R Coupe in Dark Sapphire. I found her in the library reading a manual that was about eight inches thick!

"Eggsy! Merlin sent this along for you," Roxy advised, nudging an equally thick book towards me.

"Well I did ask, I suppose!" I chuckled.

* * *

**_Early that afternoon_**

**_London_**

We had returned to London, via the Tube and we headed to a small pub near St James Palace. It was lunchtime, so it would not be out of the ordinary for two young people to be heading there for a quick bite to eat. It was busy which would aid in keeping our activities private.

"So what have you to tell us?" I asked after we had sat down in the pub, across from a tall, thin well-presented man.

"This..."

The man passed over a transparent plastic bag that contained a small, shiny metal disc, which was not much wide than a couple of inches.

"Shiny!" I commented. "What is it?"

"Whatever it is, it was being smuggled into the country – why?" The man answered, shortly, as he stood up and left. "That's your job!"

"Thank you," Roxy said and picked up the thin metal disc. She then looked quizzically at me.

"Nice guy!" I commented dryly.

We ordered a sandwich each and chatted while we ate. Roxy was itching to take her new set of wheels out, onto the road and I had to admit, so was I – the Aston would be one hell of a drive.

* * *

**_Later that afternoon_**

**_'K' Manor_**

"Your little find is an interesting element called Polonium –" Merlin began.

"– number eighty-four on the periodic table. Discovered in 1898 by the Curies. Radioactive and poisonous." Roxy interrupted, almost unable to contain herself.

Merlin smiled approvingly at Roxy. "Well done Lancelot – you studied chemistry and physics, if I recall."

"I did," Roxy said, smiling happily at the complement.

"Now this element has been used in poisonings. The Palestinian leader, Yassar Arafat, for example, was poisoned by Polonium in 2004."

"Was it safe to handle," I asked with some concern.

Merlin laughed. "It is lethal only if you ingest it – so I would recommend _not_ biting into the disc!"

"I've just had a thought and not a nice thought, either – Polonium also has another key use, among others. When combined with Lithium they both form an initiator..."

"Very true, Lancelot," Merlin commented gravely.

"An initiator for what?" I asked, having lost them both and I was rather surprised to see a very grave look on Roxy's face, too.

"A bomb," Roxy said quietly.

"So what?" I responded. What could be bad about a bomb?

"A nuclear bomb, Eggsy!" Merlin added.

"Oh fuck!" I commented.

"My sentiments exactly," Merlin said.

* * *

We had to assume the worst possible scenario – which was exactly why the Kingsman were formed.

"We don't exactly have much to go on!" Roxy commented.

"Tell me about it – it's like walking into the bathroom and finding someone's nicked the damn toilet!" I added.

"The man has a point, crude as usual, but valid," Merlin said, with a grin. "And so do you, Lancelot. We need to go and see Arthur.

* * *

**_That evening_**

**_'K' Headquarters_**

"You are absolutely sure about this, Merlin?" Arthur asked after he had been briefed.

"Unfortunately, in the disc form, there is little doubt as to its purpose, at this point," Merlin replied.

Arthur sat back in his chair, a very worried expression on his seasoned face. A minute passed before Arthur spoke again. He looked directly at Eggsy and me as he spoke.

"Well, Lancelot, Galahad – are you both up the task?" Arthur asked, with all seriousness.

"Yes, Arthur, we are!" I replied for both of us.

..._...

At least I hoped that we were!

We were in pole position for preventing a possible nuclear attack on the United Kingdom. We had not even been Kingsman for three months! Nevertheless, that was what Kingsman was all about – we had spent many months training for this.

I looked at Eggsy, who had a _'now look what you've gotten us into'_ look on his face. I smiled an apology.

"It'll be a walk in the park – don't see a HALO in it for you," he teased with a smirk.

"This girl is keeping her feet firmly on the ground this time around!" I said with resolute conviction.

"That's what we need – enthusiasm. Now, where the hell do we start?"

* * *

**_Three days later_**

**_North of Oxford_**

We had had a small break.

Percivale had uncovered something during his first few days in Russia. A source had advised him about a confirmed rumour that some Russian hardliners from the earlier Cold War era were looking for options to increase their standing in Western Europe. It appeared that the United Kingdom was a target. If the United Kingdom's status could be reduced on the world's stage and if the United Kingdom's interests could be turned inwards to look after itself, then a powerful potential adversary would have been neutralised.

I thought this sounded completely nuts, but nobody had ever said that these old Communists were one hundred percent sane! The important thing was that it had been confirmed that something was happening and the United Kingdom was the target.

..._...

The dead man in Glasgow had been taken apart, and not just during the autopsy, either – his life seemed genuine, from what we had been able to ascertain. He had entered the country, legally, at Stranraer, after boarding a ferry from Larne in Northern Ireland. Then things went a little strange. Before then he had flown to Belfast from Gatwick and before that he had flown from Chicago to Dublin and then to Gatwick. The man got around and it was a classic example of muddying the waters behind him as he travelled.

Merlin had directed us to drive north to Scotland. The man had been in Glasgow for a reason – with the Polonium. Why?

..._...

We were both racing up the M40, heading for the M6 motorway.

I was in my dreamy Jaguar, while Eggsy was half a mile in front of me, in his green Aston. I had never driven such a gorgeous car, as this F-Type R, before and it sent a thrill through me as I pressed the accelerator to the floor and heard the roar of the supercharged five-litre V8 engine as I was propelled to awesome speeds.

"Remember Lancelot, Kingsman do not belong on 'Police, Camera, Action'!" Merlin cautioned in the heads up display.

"I'll remember, Merlin – have no fear!" I replied.

* * *

"That applies to you, too, Galahad!" Merlin added. "Harry liked to put his foot down – he saw the accelerator as having only two settings – open and closed!"

"I will be the perfect driver," I said with a chuckle.

"Now why don't I believe you?" Merlin replied, as he cut the transmission.

"It's just us now, Rox!"

"Bye!" Roxy replied and waved with a cheeky smile, as she came up on my right, before accelerating away into the distance.

I laughed as I pressed my own accelerator to the floor and unleased just under six hundred horsepower from the V12 engine as I pursued my colleague.


	4. Initiator

**Author's Note: **_Apologies to all, for the significant delay in publishing this chapter. I hope to speed up future updates. A small question to all: should Eggsy and Roxy become romantically involved or keep things firmly professional?_

* * *

**_The following morning_**

**_Glasgow_**

We had greatly enjoyed our drive up from London to the Scottish, City of Glasgow.

The freedom of the open road and our cars. It had been fun and we managed to get ourselves a little carried away at the time, but now the real work began again.

It had started as a chilly morning.

Roxy and I were fresh from a hearty breakfast at our hotel. We needed to find out where the dead man had originated. Why had he come to Glasgow? Why did he have a potentially dangerous item on him? For whom was this potentially dangerous item intended? We had many questions to answer and possibly very little time in which to answer them.

..._...

We were walking up St Vincent Street, in the centre of the City, enjoying each other's conversation. Something seemed strange, but I could not quite put my finger on it. We were both chatting, about nothing important – just conversation to make us look like anybody else. Despite this, we were constantly alert and aware of our surroundings. It was this alertness, which led me to one conclusion.

We were being followed.

"Roxy, fancy a drink?" I suggested, with a meaningful look.

Roxy gave me a momentary, somewhat quizzical look and I nodded in silent reply.

"Yeah, about time for one," Roxy replied.

The ability to communicate on a non-verbal level was critical to our operations. In this way, we could let each other know important information without the wrong people being made aware.

We dropped down from the street to a small coffee shop, in the basement of a terraced property and ordered two teas.

"You ever been to Glasgow, before?" Roxy asked with genuine interest, as we sat down and waited for our drinks.

"Before meeting Harry, I had never ventured more than a few miles from home!" I replied. "This is all part of my new life. New experiences for me to enjoy. What about you?"

"I _have_ been to Edinburgh, a while ago now, but never Glasgow."

..._...

I periodically glanced out of the coffee shop window. The man in question was loitering and not doing a very good job of looking innocuous. This, at least, confirmed my initial suspicions. Somebody knew we were here in Glasgow and most probably why.

We finished our teas and then casually strolled back up to street level. The man had seen us come out of the coffee shop and was pretending to examine a parking meter. He definitely was not a professional! Then it occurred to me that one old trick, would be to have an obvious observer to attract our attentions, while having another, unknown observer to, covertly, monitor us.

I casually scanned the street, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Roxy seemed to notice as her body language changed and I saw her tense up and casually scan the street around us.

* * *

I was cued in by Eggsy and started to scan the surrounding area for anybody else that might be watching us.

It was an old trick, going back years in the spy business. False observers. After a brief minute spent scanning and pretending to rummage in my handbag, I thought I had four potential observers. It could be one, it be none or it could be all of them. There was nothing certain in this game.

We split up.

Again, an age-old method to confound observers and tails. We did not say anything; we just walked past each other, heading in completely, opposite directions. The overt observer now seemed confused, he hesitated and then proved that he was no professional; he looked directly at one of our suspected observers who looked mad at the breaking of tradecraft!

That observer glared back at his obvious subordinate and turned away, hoping in vain that nothing had been seen.

"Tall, dark hair, blue suit with black overcoat, black shoes. Looks pissed!" I whispered quietly.

"I have him!" Eggsy acknowledged from a dozen yards up the street.

I saw Eggsy turn left up the next street, while I turned right up a parallel street. The newly detected observer, knowing his cover was probably blown, crossed St Vincent Street and followed me, about a dozen yards behind. I continued straight on up the pavement, before ducking down an alley that paralleled St Vincent Street.

A few yards up the alley, I ducked into a doorway and waited.

* * *

The idiot observer made absolutely no attempt to follow me, or Roxy, but instead headed away.

I rotated the bezel of my watch, so that the single word 'TRACKER' was displayed. I aimed and sent a very small dart towards the man. I knew, without a doubt, that the dart would attach itself to his outer clothing. We would find him later; he should be an easy interrogation.

I then got back to the task in hand and turned left into an alley that paralleled St Vincent Street. I expected to find Roxy coming in the opposite direction. The alley had a slight rise to it, in the middle, so I could not see the other end from where I was. I increased my pace; I knew that Roxy could handle anything, but I wanted to be close – just in case.

I came over the rise and could see the far end of the alley. There was no sign of Roxy, but I did see the prone form of a man lying on the tarmac. I smiled and then Roxy appeared; she had been checking out the far end of the alley. I saw her smile at me, pleased with her work.

"Poor chap have an accident?" I asked with a smirk.

"He just walked right into my fist – accidents will happen!" Roxy replied, with a sarcastic tone.

I dragged the unfortunate observer into the doorway, where he lay slumped against the door.

"Next question – who is he?" Roxy asked.

I rifled the man's pockets, but both surprisingly and not surprisingly came up with empty pockets! I called for a little assistance.

"How you doing, big man?" I called.

"Wandered when you two were going to check in!" Merlin commented. "What can I do for Lancelot and Galahad, today?"

"We need an ID on this unfortunate chap," I requested.

"Okay – getting his vital statistics – give me a mo –," Merlin muttered to nobody in particular as he accessed the camera in my glasses and acquired the details that he needed. "He supposed to be unconscious, or did you bore him to death?"

"Apparently he came into contact with Lancelot's fist!" I advised Merlin.

"Accidents will happen!" Merlin commented dryly. "I – oh dear!"

* * *

"Problem, oh great Merlin!"

"Yes, Lancelot – a problem. That man, whom you have there, is one Christophe Hutchinson – a very dangerous player. He is logged as leaving the UK about three weeks ago and entering the US. However, there is no record of him leaving the US, nor of re-entering the UK!"

"Disturbing," I commented.

"Indeed," Merlin replied. "Tag him and leave him. I notice that Galahad already has a tag in play heading east, out of the City."

"That would be the incompetent idiot from earlier!" Eggsy explained.

..._...

We headed back towards the hotel and our vehicles.

Once there, it seemed a good idea to change the identity of our vehicles, as their current registrations were most probably known by the opposition. On dropping into the driver's seat and pressing the 'start' button, I then pressed a 'K' icon on the touch screen display once it had come to life. A keypad appeared on the screen and I punched in my personal code, which revealed a menu of options, among which was one that I required: 'kPlate'. I selected this option and then 'Next' followed by 'Apply'. Roxy must have just used the same actions, as I saw her rear number plate clear and then a different registration number appear, in black characters, on the yellow background.

"Cool!" I commented.

"You ready to move?" Roxy called.

"Your lead, good lady!" I replied with a smirk.

I accelerated after Roxy, as she threaded her Jaguar F-Type R Coupe, out of the hotel car park and towards the M8 motorway, heading east towards the City of Edinburgh.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, we were both passing Junction 6, of the M8 and still heading east.

Between us, we had been able to isolate the vehicle that the 'incompetent idiot' was driving – a two-year-old Ford Mondeo that was anonymous and actually rather a good choice of vehicle! The man was driving normally, only a little over the seventy miles-per-hour speed limit. He seemed to be in a rush, but not overtly so.

I accelerated ahead of our target, leaving Eggsy a few cars behind. I would follow from the front, using the tracking systems in my car. Both Eggsy and I would need to be careful not to attract the attention of the Traffic Police, so kept a good look out and kept our speed under control.

..._...

Several miles further east, the man pulled into the Harthill Services. He stopped at a pump and started to fill up his car. I pulled into a nearby parking bay and waited, watching the man in my rear-view mirror. All seemed normal, as far as I could see. Eggsy also entered the services and pulled over a hundred yards past the petrol station.

Once the man had filled his car with petrol and then paid, he headed back onto the M8 motorway. Eggsy took the lead, accelerating onto the motorway before the man in his Ford Mondeo was more than a few yards beyond the pumps.

..._...

We closed up, Eggsy in his Aston Martin, two cars in front and myself, two cars behind. We continued for a number of miles like that, before the Ford Mondeo indicated to the left; he was turning off at Junction 4, which would take him north, possibly towards the town of Falkirk. The three of us continued in convoy up the A801, weaving north. Half an hour later, we approached Junction 4 of the M9 motorway, near to Falkirk.

"I'll continue around the roundabout, Roxy. Let me know where he goes," Eggsy called.

"Will do," I replied and kept a good eye on the Ford Mondeo, as we slowed at the junction onto the roundabout.

There were six potential exits off that roundabout, including the one where we sat. I saw Eggsy pull onto the roundabout and accelerate around to the left. Finally, it was the Mondeo's turn. I watched him pull onto the roundabout followed by another vehicle. I then followed, myself, keeping the Mondeo in sight.

"He's taken the second exit onto the M9, towards Stirling," I called to Eggsy.

"Right behind you, Lancelot!"

* * *

I saw Roxy's, dark sapphire Jaguar vanishing down the slip road, onto the M9, as I came around the roundabout.

Where was this guy going? Stirling, maybe? Almost immediately, Roxy was in contact again.

"He's going off again, Junction 5!" Roxy advised me with a somewhat confused tone to her voice. "He's making for Falkirk."

At the bottom of the slip road, the Mondeo turned left at the roundabout, following the A9 towards Falkirk. A few hundred yards further on, he turned left and then almost immediately, he then turned right, into a graveyard!

..._...

We both pulled over, just past the graveyard and climbed out of our cars. The Mondeo had stopped a dozen yards or so inside the graveyard and the man had climbed out. We both watched, as he walked further into the graveyard.

I gave Roxy a somewhat quizzical look and she returned the same. What was going on? We got our answer much sooner than we had expected and most definitely _not_, _how_ we expected. We were just a dozen yards or so behind the man, when there was a sharp cracking sound and the man dropped to the ground.

We both ran forwards, scanning around for the danger. The 'incompetent idiot' was most definitely dead; there was a single hole in his forehead and the back of his head was garnishing a nearby gravestone.


End file.
